Humidity??

I have a small kettle on the stove in the basement, but its more for somewhere to put the kettle. I have a humidifier up in the living room.

We use a small cast iron pot with an open grate on the top. They are sold at most stove shops. We go through a gallon or two per day. We also leave the bathroom door open when showering and this adds more humidity. All homes are different but this works for us. If you have a cat or dog and you see sparks when you pet them, or if they just run away, you know that you should turn up the humidity.

I have a trivet, and a Honeywell upright atomizing humidifier w/UV light, works very well, house is small (1200 s.f.)..next yr: HWBB will be done,problem solved.

I only have a cast iron tea kettle but a friend has humidifiers in every room. My home is a new construction, so I'm not sure how that factors in.

Had to buy a portable humidifier for the room the insert is located. Just a 3 gallon size is doing the job. Raised the humidity from 30% to a constant 45%. The humidity readings for the rest of the house prettry much stay a constant 50% or greater.

Since the outdoor temperatures have remained above 38f for the past couple of weeks haven`t had to run the humidifier at all. Worst thing about the dry air is it can cause itchy dry skin.

cast iron pot


electric dryer is not vented to outside in the Winter.

as soon as the Summer humidity comes that hose gets put right back on the wall flapper.

my wife found this thing that is has a 2 way valve that you attach to your dryer vent pipe (electric dryer only) and it diverts the heat and moisture from the dryer into the home during the winter and then you can change it to vent out of doors in the warmer months. Anybody have any experience with this? I think it is a pretty neat idea and certainly could add moisture to the home in the winter months. I know the heat that is lost out of doors by my vent does an excellent job of melting the snow near it and could do an equally good job of heating some of my home.

We keep a small pot on the stove while we burn (usually only in the mornings and evenings) and have a humidifier upstairs in our living room. The ceiling is open from our first floor where our stove is, to the second floor where we have our bedrooms and living room. We run our humidifier 24 hours a day, plus we do laundry at night and hang the wet laundry over our railing looking down to the wood stove. In the morning the laundry is 99% dry. Over here in Japan, especially where we live things don't get as cold as what some of you experience. Nevertheless, the air is still cold and dry.

Throw a couple shovels full of clean ( not yellow) snow on the concrete floor in front of the air intake

The clothes dryer thing will definitely add humidity to the house, and save energy.

Also make sure your house is sealed up very well, check the weatherstripping around doors and windows. Air leaks are a major cause of dryness.
http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/keep_heat_in/chapter_1/chapter_1_4.cfm
http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/keep_heat_in/chapter_1/chapter_1_3.cfm?PrintView=N&Text=N
http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/keep_heat_in/chapter_8/chapter_8_2.cfm?PrintView=N&Text=N

michaelthomas said:

my wife found this thing that is has a 2 way valve that you attach to your dryer vent pipe (electric dryer only) and it diverts the heat and moisture from the dryer into the home during the winter and then you can change it to vent out of doors in the warmer months. Anybody have any experience with this? I think it is a pretty neat idea and certainly could add moisture to the home in the winter months. I know the heat that is lost out of doors by my vent does an excellent job of melting the snow near it and could do an equally good job of heating some of my home.

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My electric dryer has no outside vent at all, just vents inside through a simple plast ic contraption that holds water. The water filters out the lint and adds even more moisture to the inside air. Might be too much humidity, though, at least in the laundry room, if you've got a big family and do lots of washer loads every week.

bryguy322 said:

Hey all, just wondering what you all do for addressing the dry air from fire. My insert isn't installed yet, so I haven't been able to try things out yet. I was thinking on putting a trivet with some sort of nice water kettle for humidity, but I don't know if that will be enough. Otherwise, I suppose I'll have to get a humidifier. If anyone has any experience or ideas, thow em' my way. Thanks

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Don't use a kettle, they don't put enough moisture into the air, is my experience. The cast iron "steamers" with a lattice top work better. You might need more than one, if you've got room for them. With my little stove that doesn't get all that hot on the outside, I use up at least a gallon of water a day. Makes a significant difference. Couldn't pet the cats hardly at all in the wintertime until I got a woodstove and the steamer.

Seriously, don't bother with the humidifier until you try out the steamers first. Much less of a hassle. Or experiment with a couple of old cooking pots your wife won't mind you ruining before you spend cash on anything.

bryguy322 said:

What should the humidity in a house be anyway?

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http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/keep_heat_in/chapter_8/chapter_8_2.cfm?PrintView=N&Text=N


See chart about halfway down.

bryguy322 said:

My dryer has the 2-way valve on it also, but when I close it to the outside I get moisture on my walls and ceiling. My dryer is in the basement so the moisture on the block wall may not be that bad, but the water on the floor joists and floor boards can't be very good. I've found if I put it about half way it works pretty good. What should the humidity in a house be anyway?

What is the cast iron "steamer" thing? I'm not sure what that is or looks like.

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The humidity in the house should be what you're comfortable with, really. Some people like it more humid than others. Experiment.

Steamers are just a cast iron pot, like a baking pot, oval or round, with a latticed lid. They have more surface and I think greater, more dispersed evaporation than a kettle, which pours steam through a small spout. A lot of places on the net sell them, from L.L. Bean to various places that sell hearth/woodstove supplies.

Here's are some examples: (this is a good company, btw, that has lots of good hearth accessories)

http://www.northlineexpress.com/category/woodstove-steamers.asp

We have a pellet stove so a steamer on the stove is out. We use a whole house humidifier. Works great. Keep it on 45-50% automatic and just run it at night...at medium setting. Works super.

I have an insert. I got a large crock like bowl that I fill up and set on my hearth. The cat loves it and won't drink water from any other bowl in the house. Dogs are glad she doesn't drink their water anymore.

We hang the laundry in the house to dry and keep two cast iron kettles on the stove for making tea, coffee and filling up the yutanpo (Japanese hot-water bottle) before going to bed. A tip I got from a woman who sold kettles in small household goods shop for people who keep a cast iron kettle on the stove. If the water gets rusty, boil sweet potato peels in the kettle. At first the water will turn black, but keep changing the water until it stays clear and then throw away the peels. It worked great for us and as long as you keep the kettle full of water it shouldn't get rusty again.

I had always been to cheap to run a humidifier and just had used a pot on the stove, it worked OK, but I was tired this year of getting shocked and getting dry sinsus, so we got a large Holmes humidifier 3500 I think, and it works amazing, worth the electricity to run! House humidity is now in the mid 40's all the time! Go through about 4-6 gallons a day in a 1800sq foot house.